Harry and Meghan could be questioned in Samantha Markle defamation case

THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex could be questioned as part of a US defamation case brought by Meghan’s half-sister.

Samantha Markle is suing Meghan for “defamation and injurious falsehoods”, including claims, in an Oprah Winfrey TV interview, of being an “only child”.

She is seeking $75,000 (£62,000) damages in a case lodged in March 2022.

On Tuesday, a judge rejected a bid to stop Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, from having to give evidence in a legal deposition.

A deposition is a formal testimony from a witness or someone involved in a case, given outside of court but under oath.

And the ruling, by judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell, in a district court in Florida, means if the case goes further ahead, Meghan and Prince Harry could have to face such questioning.

But the judge added that a “preliminary peek” suggested some of the claims “may be ripe for dismissal”.

Court papers in the civil case show that Samantha alleges Meghan: exposed her to “humiliation, shame and hatred on a worldwide scale” misrepresented their relationship

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they were growing up, giving the impression they were “virtual strangers” and she had “no relationship whatsoever with her sister Meghan”

“falsely and maliciously stated” she was “an only child”, when interviewed with Prince Harry by Oprah Winfrey, in 2021 pursued a “false rags-to-royalty narrative”, claiming childhood hardship, which destroyed her half-sister and father’s “reputation and credibility”

Court documents show that Samantha claimed she had a much closer relationship with her halfsister, with “frequent and regular contact” throughout her childhood.

And she recalls how their father paid for Meghan’s “expensive” private education and helped launch her acting career.

The claims are accompanied by 38 “requests for admission”, which seek to put statements and questions to Meghan.

This includes the statement: “Your sister Samantha Markle has driven you to school on a regular basis at a certain period of your life.”

According to court documents, the response from Meghan’s legal team is that this is a “vague and ambiguous” request and “not relevant to any party’s claim or defence”.

In response to “You are not an only child,” the reply from Meghan’s lawyers is that “a statement that she grew up or did not grow up as an ‘only child’ cannot be defamatory as a matter of law”.

PINK Floyd co-founder Roger Waters addressed the United Nations Security Council Wednesday, where he called for an end to the war in Ukraine without seeming to take a side.

According to Rolling Stone, Waters said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago wasn’t legal, but it was “not unprovoked.”

“So I also condemn the provocateurs in the strongest possible terms,” he said. “There, that’s out of the way.”

The 79-year-old musician’s remarks, which came at the behest of Russian officials, reportedly condemned military profiteers. He claimed to speak for “many who do not share in the profits of the war industry.”

The “Shine on You Crazy

Diamond” singer called reports of Russian war crimes “Western propaganda” in an October interview with Rolling Stone.

Waters also claimed his name is on a “kill list” supported by the Ukrainian government, calling the Eastern European nation’s conflict with Russia an “unnecessary” war for which NATO shares responsibility. “Russia should not have been encouraged to invade the Ukraine after they tried for 20 years to avoid it by suggesting diplomatic measures to Western governments,” he claimed.

The outspoken four-time Grammy nominee’s politics came under fire Monday when former Pink Floyd bandmate David Gilmour and his wife Polly Samson savaged Waters on Twitter.

CHRISTINA Applegate is planning to take her final bow at this month’s Screen Actor’s Guild Awards.

The “Dead to Me” star was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the summer of 2021, while filming the third and final season of the Netflix series.

She’s nominated by the Screen Actors Guild for that role in the category of outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series. Due to her health, Applegate acknowledges this may be her last acting nod.

“It’s my last awards show as an actor probably, so it’s kind of a big deal,” Applegate told The Los Angeles Times in an interview on Tuesday. “Right now, I couldn’t imagine getting up at 5 a.m. and spending 12 to 14 hours on a set; I don’t have that in me at this moment.”